Is it time for you to decide your product price? Are you confused about how you should decide the price? Theoretically, it should be simple; adding your costs and mark-up will give you a selling price. However, it is not so. The business environmental factors play a major role in decision of price setting hence this activity has to done considering them.

Therefore, when you are considering prices look at the factors mentioned below.

The prevalent prices in the market

Any business that caters to a large customer base usually offers variety of price options. With different prices come unique services, qualities, quantities and features. Roughly, there are three price ranges – high, medium and low. You need to understand what the price range is for each of the above-mentioned category.

For example- you own an advertising agency offering copy writing, online, offline media promotions and event advertising services and you need to know what the other businesses are charging for those services. You also need to find out the pricing for combined and individual services and clients they have. This will give you a brief idea about the price structure, the client profile and service type.

One cannot ignore the pricing trends because business pricing can determine the course of its growth. You cannot charge too much for similar services nor can you charge too low because it will hurt your business. Use the current market prices as a standard to set and compare your own price.

The target customer

There are two types of markets tapped and untapped. Tapped are those, which have considerable competition and a large customer base while in untapped markets there are no players because no one is able find a potential market. When you decide to launch a product, you need to know your target market. You need to decide whether you would compete with existing businesses or find a new untapped market. If you are planning to go head long with current businesses, decide the customer and price market you want to enter. Once you make a decision, you can chart out a pricing strategy. You can create a product at a price lesser providing similar value or increase your price and give some exclusivity. In case you feel there is a large untapped customer base you will have to find out about them and see what price they are ready to pay for your products, you could either enter a high-end market or low end one.

Make a pricing decision based on your customer base.

Competitor pricing

When you plan to steal your competitor’s clients, you need to sell something at a more competitive price. For that, you need to be aware of the price range and value associated with the product. It would be very difficult for a customer to switch loyalty for a similar product and price. However, you could change the price or value of the product substantially to cause that switch. Either sell the similar product at a visibly lesser price or create more value for customers at the same price.

Cost to you

It is very important to consider your own costs. How much would it take to make the product and sell it? A smart way to resolve the issue is to decide whom to want to sell to and then think backwards about costs. In a situation where you decide to tap a low-income customer base, your product specification would be different and so would the cost of product. If you want to tap into the high income groups, your product and pricing would vary from that of a mass market.

Your decision of market and product would determine your costs. Once you have made decision on production, materials, vendors you can negotiate with them further to reduce your costs. Use bulk buying, pre payment, full payment, cash payment options to get more discounts. The more you reduce the cost the lesser the production cost and market price.

Pricing is a crucial decision and sometimes you do not get it right the first time. Evaluate your pricing strategy regularly and make necessary changes when required. Price differentiation is one of the ways to stand out in a competitive world and if done properly with help you grow and stay in business longer.

In this article on achieving successful international business ventures, the initial focus is on the evaluation process – an important first step on the path to international success. Failing to carefully weigh up issues affecting the commercial viability of a new venture can cause real problems later – and even adversely affect the existing core business base too.

You don’t have to look far to find examples of ventures which have failed because people fell into the trap of assuming rather than evaluating. The fact is that setting up, or expanding into, another country IS different. Anyone who fails to understand and recognise these differences – and then design, structure and run the new business venture in the light of these differences – is playing Russian roulette with its future welfare and may end up proving Oscar Wilde’s observation that; “Experience is simply a name we give to our mistakes”.

The Key Issues

The first is the size and development potential of the market opportunity itself. At the macro level, which country offers the most attractive opportunity? How big is its market for the product or service you offer; who will your competitors be and, by comparison, how attractive will your offering be? Commissioning some careful market research or feasibility study is therefore an essential first step.

Possible Barriers

But the research shouldn’t just focus on the market opportunity alone. A variety of other, closely related, issues also need to be examined. For example, an understanding of the importance of the culture and ethos of the country will allow you to tease out possible buying barriers – which could perhaps be psychological, cultural or caused by inappropriate branding. Will French buyers shrug their Gallic shoulders in disdain when offered US produced wine as an alternative to Beaujolais for example? On this point the international strategy consultant Trevor O’Hara cautions; “Beware of arrogance. You may be the leading player back home, but in a new market you’re an unknown with a reputation you need to build”.

Your New Operational Base

You will have to house the business somewhere of course and so will need to look at occupation costs – be they office, warehouse or industrial premises. These will vary, with the major cities usually being the most expensive. London, Tokyo and New York usually head the list – although the actual rents payable have certainly fallen as a result of the 9-11 disaster. And the costs to rent or buy suitable commercial premises are of course closely linked to the increasingly important issues of labour availability and costs.

Force Majeure

Here, the emerging and relatively undeveloped countries are gaining ground. Their basic market forces are difficult, and arguably commercially impossible, to ignore or resist. British readers will probably recall the example of the eponymous “Dyson” vacuum cleaner manufacturing and assembly base being moved out of the UK to a lower cost overseas labour market location by its quintessentially English, and patriotic, James Dyson.

Sun Belts and Cheaper Labour

Naturally the onward march of business globalisation is proving to be very good news for the, so called, “Sun Belt” economies of the world – typified in Europe by Spain, Portugal and Italy. And we are now seeing this mirrored within the expanding EC Community and the emerging Far East economies by the movement of a number of jobs to lower wage cost locations.

Some Locations May Fight to Give You Money

The competition to obtain inward investment gets fiercer all the time. An outside observer might expect these battle lines to be drawn at national boundaries but very often the real fighting is taking place between the regions of a country – each with its own inward investment basket of bonbons on offer. Don’t ignore the grants and incentives that may be available – sometimes in quite unexpected places too. Even the apparently thrusting, dynamic and trendy Brighton & Hove (recently designated as a City) now offers employers grants to move there.

Many countries and regions will offer a mixture of published and discretionary grants and incentives which are reviewed and revised on a regular basis. Published incentives are usually available in areas in need of regeneration – very often where an old industry has died away, leaving large numbers of employees without a job. Discretionary incentives are normally linked to job creation in the area and are usually subject to individual negotiation.

The more new jobs you are likely to create the more enthusiastic will be your reception and the more assistance you are likely to be offered.

But Money Isn’t Everything

But don’t let the availability of grants or incentives in a locality become the only reason for choosing a location (in fact only around 10% of relocation decisions are made because grants or incentives are on offer at the new location). The majority of successful businesses entering new countries actually opt for proven and successful locations – typically in capital cities or in key regional centres.

Unsurprisingly, organisations needing a large local labour force will be more likely to seek grants and incentives than employers in the professional or service sectors.

Accessibilty

Ignore the issue of accessibility at your peril. Your new base of operations should be easily accessible from the existing “home” business location and ideally offer a variety of travel options and termini. It should also allow easy local and regional access and be blessed with good road, rail and transportation links.

Beware of heavily congested areas. Organisations are increasingly moving from congested urban areas with grid-locked traffic (creating the so called “push” effect) to un-congested and greener sites (the so called “pull” effect). So if your business already has existing customers in neighbouring countries are you going to be able to service them efficiently along the routes available?

It is noticeable within the ever-burgeoning EU that many organisations are opting for the greater efficiency and accessibility offered by a mainland European base. Within the EU there is also an increasing focus on what has become known as Mobility Management (“MM”) aimed at improving accessibility by reducing the volume of traffic on the road through a carefully co-ordinated mix of measures such as better integrated and improved public transport, car sharing, teleworking and business travel planning.

Within the EU most new commercial developments of any size or consequence are now subject to planning requirements to introduce MM measures and to monitor and measure their results and efficiencies. Holland in particular has achieved significant success as a result of the Dutch government’s recognition that the flow of the nation’s lifeblood (the goods in the lorries) was increasingly getting blocked by the volume of traffic in its severely restricted arteries (the roads) and that something had to be done about it.

Taxation and Costs

Don’t forget too to look at the regulatory regimes within each country. Will you be able to repatriate profits easily; what are the comparative costs of labour and the tax and social security costs? Finance Ministers regularly review, and often change, their ground rules to encourage inward investment or retain businesses that might otherwise be tempted to move elsewhere – so it pays to keep abreast of their thinking and of the changes they implement.

Who Will Make it Happen?

And finally what about your most precious assets – the people you will ask to make it all work? Its’ essential to carefully review all the hard issues like rents, local taxes, occupation and labour costs – but will your key staff who have to make the venture succeed be happy and motivated? If not you’re going to face problems. It’s not at all unusual for expatriate assignments overseas, to set up and run new ventures but then to fail.

According to the Washington DC based Employee Relocation Council, over a third of expatriate assignments fail. Even worse, most failures occur within the first six months. Imagine the impact of this failure on a new business venture in an overseas location. Not only will the individual have failed but the business itself may be in jeopardy. Staff hired locally will be leaderless and “head office” will be desperately trying to paper over a widening credibility and confidence crack, whilst frantically looking for a suitable replacement.

Investing sufficient time up-front to evaluate local housing, education, customs and procedures will be repaid a hundredfold.

The internet today offers a lot of job opportunities for people from almost every walk of life. Whether you’re a student looking for extra income, a stay-at-home mom looking for a home-based job or a full-time employee searching for a second job, the World Wide Web is the right destination for you.
Want to become a freelance blogger? Follow these tips and land your first job.

Want to be a freelance blogger? Follow these tips and land your first writing job.

A freelance blogger is particularly in demand nowadays. Many webmasters and business owners often do not have the time or skills to write blog posts on a regular basis. Instead of hiring full-time bloggers, these employers prefer to outsource the work and look for a freelance blogger. If you wish to make the most of these opportunities, here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Create a powerful resume.

The first thing you need to do to get started on becoming a freelance blogger is to create your resume. A longer resume is not necessarily more impressive. Instead,

An employer looking for a blogger won’t care if you’re a hotdog eating contest champion or if you were the chess club president in high school–unless the employer runs a blog about hotdogs and chess. Stick to details that are relevant to your writing skills instead.

2. Build a portfolio.

A portfolio is a sure-fire requirement that you will need if you want to have a career as a freelance blogger. Employers would want to see your writing style and capabilities first so make sure you have your writing samples ready. If you have works that have been published online then it will be easy for you to refer potential clients to these web pages through links. You can also refer them to your blog if you have one. No portfolio to show yet? No problem. Simply write a couple of articles about general topics to show off your writing style.

3. Join an online marketplace for employers and freelancers.

For most starting freelance bloggers, the best place to find your first clients would be an online marketplace. Marketplaces such as oDesk connect employers and freelance contractors in one place, making it easier for both parties to find the people they are looking for. All you need to do is to create an account and an online profile to get started. After this, you can start applying to various writing jobs.

4. Secure your payment method.

Since freelance blogging is mostly an outsourcing job, chances are you will have clients from various parts of the world. This means you need a secure payment method through which employers can send your compensation for writing assignments. Consider opening a Paypal account. It’s easy, convenient and is a highly secure and trusted online payment method. Never start scouting for jobs unless you’ve secured a payment method first. Once you’ve scored a job, be sure to inform your client about your payment method.

5. Keep applying.

Landing your first job as a freelance blogger can be challenging but if you work hard enough, it’s almost a sure thing that you will get clients sooner or later. Keep browsing job posts and keep applying to gigs that you are qualified for. Chances are you will get a couple of responses for every ten applications but this is how it is for every beginning freelance blogger. Once you land that first job and you start gaining experience, your portfolio will grow as well and landing jobs will become easier and easier.

Providing great customer service when you have just one location of your retail store is manageable. You can answer all emails yourself, talk to customers, oversee employee behavior, and generally make sure that everything is running smoothly to make sure customers get the help they need in a timely manner.

Things get more complicated, though, when you decide to branch out. It’s obvious that there are financial considerations to take into account when thinking about opening a second location or increasing the size of your store, but have you considered that you’ll need to create a new customer service plan for your expansion as well?

Building customer service to scale is no easy task, but there are definitely ways to make it easier. Check out these tips for building customer service to scale:

1. Offer FAQs. You’ve probably noticed that you get some of the same questions over and over from your customers, and if you don’t offer an FAQs page on your website, you’re wasting valuable time answering the same questions repeatedly. Although many companies are hesitant to provide canned answers, just remember: Letting customers help themselves when they can is not the same thing as leaving customers to make due totally on their own. Offering an FAQs page is a win-win: Customers find what they’re looking for quickly, and you reduce your workload. Some companies also set up an auto-response to emails that lists FAQs so that customers with easy-to-resolve issues can get help right away, and then offer a second email address or toll-free number in case they still need help.

2. Develop specific company policies. If you’re growing past the point where you’re able to handle all customer service issues on your own, it can be scary to allow others to take the reins with customers. However, if you develop very specific policies for dealing with specific situations that arise, everyone in a customer service position will know what he or she is supposed to do. For instance, employees might be granted the power to refund purchases of up to $50 on their own in order to resolve customer complaints; for higher amounts, they’ll know they need to come to you.

3. Do thorough customer service training. Don’t assume your employees know what you mean by “customer service.” Make sure you train new hires not just on how to use the cash register or the difference between two similar products, but also on exactly how they’re expected to treat customers, both when customers are happy and when they’re mad. Go through practice scenarios to make sure they really understand what’s expected of them.

4. Cross-train your employees.Customer service is everyone’s job, and as you grow your company, it becomes more and more important to make sure everyone knows how to handle customer questions and complaints. Your customer service representatives won’t always be around to help as your store grows, so if others can help out in a pinch, you’ll rest assured knowing that someone knowledgeable will be there to keep customers happy.

5. Maintain the same standards as before the expansion. Just because you’re trying to do more with less doesn’t mean that your customer service has to suffer, so go into your expansion assuming that you’ll be able to maintain the same high standards you’ve always had. It’s easy to get into the mindset that you just don’t have enough time to adequately respond to customer demands, but rather than give up and let your customer service suffer, remember that you have options. Rely more on key employees, think outside the proverbial box to find solutions, and remember that customer service is of supreme importance, and you’ll be much more successful at scaling your customer service to fit your growing business.

Your success, your job depends upon motivation of your team. When teams are motivated, they don’t simply perform their job, they attack them, eager to make their contributions. And the results are obvious: customers are happy, your team is energized, and the organization continues to grow and develops.

So how can you motivate your team, or a person? You can’t! The only person who can truly motivate a person is the person. You can demand someone to do something, but that is not going to bring out his/her best efforts. Sorry “my way or the highway” isn’t effective in motivating individuals or teams.

Although you can’t control motivation, you can most certainly affect it. You can create conditions where employees want to be motivated. And here is one way you can do that: With few exceptions, all people want to achieve, contribute, and be part of something special. Our drive challenges us to achieve. The task of the leader is to feed and encourage that drive.

Motivation Tips

Teach Business Literacy

The more people understand how a successful organization is run, the better they’ll be able to contribute to your overall mission and the bottom line, and they will feel like they are truly part of your success.

Involve Them In Decision Making

If you have an important decision to make, ask your employees for ideas and suggestions. They are the ones who will feel the impact the most. Besides, you’ll probably end up with a better decision because of the help and support from your people.

Let Your Employees Lead

Help others develop by letting them take the lead on certain projects or task. It’s a great way to build skills, commitment, and responsibility. Plus most of us like “being in charge” some of the time.

Address Performance Problems Early

You owe it to your team to address deficiencies as soon as you become aware of them. Waiting only increases the intensity of everyone else’s bad feelings.

Keep Them Informed

Hold regular business meetings to keep everyone informed on what’s happening within the organization. Make sure people do not feel like they are kept in the dark.

Go Beyond The Tangible

Awards certainly have their place. But lasting motivation comes from people fulfilling challenging assignments, and receiving ongoing, positive feedback. Put your focus there, and you will cause people to care about their job, and themselves.

Think Development

Besides providing training, building skills, awareness, and confidence, make developing the members of your team (and yourself) one of your top priorities.

Always Give The “Why”

There is a much better chance that people will be motivated and give their enthusiastic support if they understand the reason behind the goal, assignment, or decision. Always follow the what with the why.

Respect Their Time

If you expect people to believe that their work is important, you have to believe it, too. Don’t expect people to drop what they are doing every time you need something. Instead, ask if they have a few minutes. Better yet, ask for a time when they’ll be available to meet with you.

There can be a number of reasons why someone would want to work from home and entertain the idea of a home business as opposed to working 9 to 5 at a Monday to Friday job. When you work for someone else, your efforts are making someone else successful, taking you away from your family both physically and emotionally as well as making your life revolve around your work schedule instead of the other way around like it should be. For most of the working class the option of working outside the home is not a desired choice.

The home business aspect of life can benefit you and your family in many more ways than you originally thought. By sparing up commuting time that you would use to go to and from work, you can apply that time to your family, decrease the stress you would ensue from rushing around in traffic and essentially bring more harmony to your home. By being at home and working online, you make yourself available for those who need you. There is no more appealing to your superiors to leave a half hour early for a parent-teacher meeting or for a doctor’s appointment. Making your own scheduled work hours helps aid in the hustle and bustle of an everyday family.

The many tasks associated with running a home business can be daunting, and become more so after even the smallest amount of success. If you are reading this then you are genuinely interested in making a successful go of your home business. As you may have observed, there are many network marketing businesses out there today that range in managing styles and operations. For the beginner, this can be the confusing part of trying to find the easy road to profit in a home business. Research is a key aspect of this step to generating residual income for yourself and your family right from your own home.

To simplify your business and your life find a team that divides tasks based on individual strengths. Another important step to choosing your business is to choose a niche where you will have an abundance of resources in order to aid in your personal success. Having the tools needed to generate income is essential and when you are given these partnered along with a strong support system, success is inevitable. You cannot prosper yourself without having someone there to help you on your way in a home business that you are learning each day. Without the proper training and guidance, it would be like telling someone who has just learning to read and write to create a novel.

You must have access to a system in order to enjoy the duplication and leverage a home business can offer. There are so many opportunities around today that someone like yourself can capitalize on and create a substantial income from home without too much unnecessary effort, but you will have to research the current markets in order to find one that works for you.

A good mentor and access to training goes a long way. Once you have chosen the perfect opportunity for you, the rewards are sure to come your way, with hard work and just a short amount of time, your home business is sure to take off and bring you all the successes that you have ever hoped for. Positive mentoring, access to available tools and networking with others in similar situations can also benefit you immensely when you are building your network marketing home business.

Featured Posts

Your success, your job depends upon motivation of your team. When teams are motivated, they don’t simply perform their job, they attack them, eager to make their contributions. And the results are obvious: customers are happy, your team is energized, and the organization continues to grow and develops. So how can you motivate your team, […]